


Finding Contact in Coffee

by VortexSwirl_24



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers to Enemies to Lovers, Mentioned Missy (Doctor Who), Pre-Episode: s12e01 Spyfall Part 1, Samaritan AU, Samaritan!Master, Soft Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor Needs a Hug, the master is trying his best not to yell back, the self-control he has is inspirational
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VortexSwirl_24/pseuds/VortexSwirl_24
Summary: Struggling to cope with learning of the death of her oldest friend, she reaches out to a familiar human number she'd always put off calling, lying to herself and saying it was never meant for her use.Tonight she dials that number.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22





	1. Dialing The Six-Digit Number

She'd always known the number. She was the reason the organisation was up in the first place. It was an indirect way of aiding the human race but the amount of volunteers never ceased to make her heart skip a beat. Good humans sharing their care and love with people who need just that to help them get through the ominous and unreliable path called life. 

Sure, she'd created the organisation, but never thought to use it for herself. The Doctor wasn't one to pour out her whole life story to some stranger she met over the phone nor to one of her best friends. It's always been that way. A silent witness to what the Oncoming Storm brought to the world around her. 

So to have to call this number, she must have been desperate. The last time she had checked up on the Samaritans was decades ago. Maybe even centuries ago because she knew that it would be around for a long time. With trembling hands, she dialled that six-digit number and waited while a song played. Just over two minutes to be exact. Two minutes and a half if you thought about it. 

Within all of this time, she had the chance to stop the ongoing music. Cancel the number. Prevent having to speak to anyone but out of a strong will to confide in another person for the first time, the Doctor stayed strong. 

The music stopped abruptly and she gasped quietly, being catapulted into uncertainty. There was an eerie silence, then a voice ringing out. 

"Hi. My name is Oscar. What can I call you?"

The voice on the other side of the phone is much more soothing than she had anticipated, reassuring her that this was the right decision. She just hoped that it was.

"It's okay. Everything will remain confidential. Nothing you say here will be known to anyone else."

The Doctor, overwhelmed by the fear and worry swirling at great masses inside of her, didn't reply to his words, nothing but the gentle whirring of the TARDIS in the background disturbing the silence.

"You don't have to tell me your name if you prefer not to."

"My name, my... name..."

"Yes?" 

"John- no. Jo. My name is Jo." 

"Hello, Jo." 

She'd nearly forgotten that she was no longer a man... again. A strange thing to forget for a human but not a genderfluid Time Lord. 

"What brought you here to call us?" 

Now was the point where the Doctor began to explain her issues. Where she actually talked. That was the reason she dialled that number to begin with along with a bit of curiosity and bitter hopelessness. 

Where would she even start? The death and destruction she witnessed? The betrayals and paranoia she lived with? The isolation and grief she endured? She couldn't even tell Oscar half of the things she wanted to. 

"I-I lost. My friend, I lost them." 

"How was they lost?" 

She couldn't bring herself to the truth. 

"I don't want to say it." She mumbled, usually joyful eyes clouded with memory, unconsciously fiddling with the TARDIS' array of buttons, levers and switches. 

"How did it make you feel? Losing your friend?" 

Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, breath quickening and fuelling a faint feeling in her head. 

"So bad. So, so bad." She had brought it on himself though, she realised. But where would the universe be in that timeline? "I could've done something, couldn't I? I could have interviened and stopped this all before it ever happened. I could've changed the timelines and brought her back. Brought them all back..."

There was a rhythm of knocks in her mind, a rhythm of four come to think of it. That was what sent her off the edge and into a breakdown.

"I want to go back. I have to go back. There needs to be a way. She was my best friend. She made all of that progress and turned her life around. She... I can't... Why?"

"I'm so sorry about that, Jo. It must have been very hard for you. I'm sure she was very important to you and was a great person. Do you mind if I asked what her name was?" 

"No, why me? Why do I have to be the one to suffer the effects of the universe? Why must I sacrifice my happiness for that of others every single time? Why do I even try if all that's going to happen is more death and destruction around me?"

She moved near the edge of yelling, Oscar trying to calm her down before she plunged into an endless corkscrew of fury, him being the sufferer of it's wrath..

"I understand you're in a lot of distress right now-"

"Yes, and I always have been. I am time. I control all of it. Why must I do the undesirable for the cowardly and selfish? Always throwing myself into danger, not thinking of the concequences but the people that would benefit instead!"

"Everything will be oka-"

"No, it won't and will never be. All I wanted was to see the stars with her. I've given her the chance to avoid this. So. Many. Times. And she always refuses. Then she ran off with someone else and look what's happened! Shot dead, and laughing!" 

"If you would just calm down for one moment-"

"What?!" She yelled into the phone, having half a mind to cut the line but another half to continue on, out of intrigue for what he was going to say to attempt to calm her down. 

"If it would help you to communicate your feelings more..." Oscar paused momentarily, as if expecting to receive a boat-load of cynical comments and verbal abuse but only recieving silence in response. 

He continued, a level of uncertainty hinted at in his voice "There are other ways you can contact a member of the Samaritans if you'd prefer other ways." 

"Such as?" 

"Well, you could always write a letter. Or an Email. Some people request a face to face..." 

"You seem nice..." Sure, it was something she'd said out of the blue but now she'd began to consider whether it was best to meet this stranger or not, weighing the pros and cons. The Doctor wasn't lying when she'd said he seemed nice but she knew from past experience, for example Professor Yana, that looks can often be decieving. But this was your regular everyday person, just doing their job to help their society's mental well-being. They didn't have anything against her. 

And besides, what could a Samaritan do? 

"What about coffee?" Oscar suggested. "We could grab one next week sometime? I-if you want to, I mean. I'm free."

Coffee?

Coffee.

Coffee's good.

But she'd wanted nothing to get out. By talking to them in real life she would be going further than what she originally wanted. She would be showing her face. But maybe that was exactly what she needed. 

Maybe all that she needed was a shoulder to cry on. 

"Alright. Coffee it is, then." The Doctor wiped away a stray tear and buried her face in her hands, smiling sadly and sighing. 

Oscar grinned, the worry in his voice replaced by well-hidden excitement. "And I know just the place too..."


	2. How Do You Brew?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor meets Oscar at a coffee shop, an unexpected enemy cutting their meeting short.

The Doctor moved across the console, flipping and twisting different switches that made the TARDIS jolt and shudder, inputting the coordinates of the Coffee Shop with ease. A familiar hum rang out and the rotor moved up and down, the blunt yellow crystals temporarily distracting the Doctor from what was about to happen. Everything went silent as she landed, allowing a few seconds for her to work up some courage before she went outside. 

The air outside the TARDIS was cold, typical weather in this country. It caught her slightly off guard. People were milling about casually, all of different ages, in groups and alone. Strangely quiet. Especially for a café. 

When she had arrived, after a few minutes of suffocating the worry internally, he was the only one sitting alone, staring at the table and tracing his finger over the wood patterns as if mesmerized by them. She briefly wondered how she should approach this stranger, but his eyes landed on her like a magnet that was close to metal before she could make a real decision, waving shyly then gesturing for her to come over.

The Coffee shop was small with your typical colour scheme. Wooden floor, green signs with white writing and large windows. Only a few people were inside, whispering amongst themselves on circular tables. 

"How do you brew, Jo?" A light-hearted joke, attempting to make the awkward atmosphere not so suffocating for the both of them. The Doctor returned a smile and sat down, slightly wary of the person sat opposite her.

Anyone who was that nice would want something. Or maybe she was just paranoid. Or maybe she just needed some coffee. Probably the latter.  
She'd been lacking in the whole sleep department lately. 

"I'm fine, um, how are you?" Socially awkward decided to conveniently visit her today. How fun. 

"I'm doing great." Oscar replied, his brown eyes were much like his voice, filled with warmth, comfort and care when he met her similarly coloured ones. 

For some reason there was a flicker of recognition when she looked at him, like they'd met before. He derailed her from her train of thought before it met it's destination when he spoke, forcing her to focus on that. 

"What would you like, Jo? I can go and get you a drink if you like. Anything, on me." 

"Just a regular coffee with milk and sugar please." Please? She had manners? When did she pick that up..?

Oscar got up and moved over to the counter, leaving the Doctor to gather her words. Still she was unsure of what she even wanted to say and what not. There were things she wanted to say but couldn't and things she didn't want to say but should. She found herself staring at the wood as well. At all the chips and dents. At all the swirls and waves. 

The Doctor was so absorbed in this that she didn't really notice when Oscar returned, sat down and placed the cup infront of her until he had nudged it closer and closer, very slowly like he didn't want to trip an alarm. 

It took her a few seconds to register it but thanked Oscar for it when she did. He sat down again opposite her and smiled, a similar-looking cup in his hands. 

"So, what would you like to talk about today?" 

The Doctor hesitated, lacing her fingers together around the hot cup wordlessly and ignoring the burning against her fingers as she structured sentences in her mind. "M-My friend... I talked about her before..."

"Yes, I remember."

"She, she was my friend... I- We go so far back..." 

"How long?" 

"Forever. Since we were little children on Gallifre-" 

Oscar frowned. "Gallifrey? Where's that?" 

"Oh, um." She nervously began to drum her fingers against the wooden table. "In Ireland. Small place. Not on any maps. Wouldn't even know it's there." 

He nods as he listens, taking a sip from his cup and setting it down again, a ring of liquid left where it was. "So you moved away." 

The Doctor let a grin tug at the corner of her mouth. "You could say that. I prefer to call it running away more than anything." 

"Why did you run away from Gallifrey, Jo?" 

"Rules." She told Oscar. 

"What about them?" 

"I felt caged in their systems. You couldn't do anything there. Just looking at things. But we wanted to travel the st- world. Away. Together. Be involved in something greater. So we left home to find our place in the stars." 

"And you felt somewhat liberated when you left Gallifrey? That you had left their strict rules and regulations to lead a new life?" 

"Something like that. I travel a lot now. All across the world. But me and my friend, we went...different ways, you could say. Very, very different ways. But I'm the- a Doctor now. I can help people and do what I can, even if... if I lose a few o-on the way..." 

The coffee was lukewarm now, the Doctor pressing her palms and lacing her fingers tightly against it to retain some of the heat. The atmosphere became cold around her, like she could truly see that no one cared about what she did for this universe. 

She let her eyes wander for a few moments, observing the people passing by out of the window and feeling as if a cloud had blocked all sunlight where she sat. 

"Doctor?" She turned at the mention of her name. "A Doctor of what, may I ask?" 

"Lots of things. Medical sciences. Law. Journalism. Cheese-Making..." 

"Cheese-making? They have that?" 

"It's a very long story." 

"Wow, a Doctor of practically everything. How does it feel to hold that amount of knowledge?" 

"Well if I'm honest, I-" 

A loud crash destroyed the peaceful murmurs of the coffee shop and a hole was blown through a nearby wall, filling the air with a thick blanket of dust and smoke. A pitch-black outline was obscured by it 

The Doctor jumped from her chair, the coffee cup spilling from her hands and to the floor. As she turned around to look at the source of the sound with her eyes saturated in shock, Oscar stood beside her and stared at the figure. 

Screamed filled the room with the smoke, the Doctor seeing people crawl or limping away from the silhouette, sometimes blood seeping from beneath where their hands clutched their bodies. 

A low voice spoke through the air, echoing around the remaining three walls around them. 

It yelled, an animalistic battle cry, people running through the door and out onto the street, Oscar shaking her and telling her they needed to leave before they too were injured.

Meeting him with only silence, she walked towards the mysterious figure and raised her chin slightly, steadily watching the tall figure as it emerged from being hidden behind the dust. 


	3. Potassium in a Coffee Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor confronts the alien and Oscar watches with increasing fear. Turns out they were in the right place at the right time. 
> 
> A coffee shop.

It wasn't quite humanoid but shared characteristics nonetheless. It was a bright crimson with arms that had no form, battle torn silver armour and an unmistakable expression of rage.

"Who are you and what do you want with this world?" She said blankly, ignoring Oscar's desperate pleads to leave.

"I want nothing from you, human. This isn't of your business. I am here on a scout and collect mission."

"Scouting what? What do you need to collect here that you can't find in another world? Not even another junk planet? Seffilun 59. Seffilun 27. Raxus Prime. Kolkokron. You know there are thousands. There's got to be something on one of them."

It narrowed it's eyes at her, head tilting to their left. "You are a simple human, but your knowledge is far beyond this petty planet."

"Oi! Petty but civilised! Now, I think it's time you left."

"Jo... Who is he? Do you know it?" A very confused Oscar asks, voice shaking with fear. "Does he want to kill us?" 

"I don't know." She turns back to the intruder, steadying her glare again. "You didn't answer my last question so I'm bringing it back to the top. Who are you and what do you want?." 

"K-Bellator of the Silvetal Systems. Soldier rank. Collect metal for alloy creation." 

"Ah. K-Bellator. Not from Korea but it roughly translates to Potassium-Warriors. But still, why come to Earth for that? Like I said, millions of junk planets! Literal millions! You had the option to find what you're looking for on an uninhibited and free to scavenge for planet but you chose to come here." 

A devious smile stretched across it's features, revealing crooked and sharp teeth. "Because Earth has all metals sufficient for craft." 

"There are much stronger metals elsewhere."

"They are not tradition. These metals are effective. Other metals are less than reliable." 

"Typical. Staying in your comfort zone. Wish my life was like that. Remind me what you needed again. Potassium, was it?" 

"Why is it of your concern?" 

"Really, it's not a good thing to be a K-Bellator on planet Earth. Like, really really not a good thing. Especially a warrior with all that extra armour. And am I right in saying that your species are famous for their excessive amounts of Potassium?" 

The K-Bellator tilts it's head again but in the opposite direction. "That would be correct, human." 

The Doctor smiles, like she had finished a one-thousand pieced puzzle. "Funny you should say that. Your armour is made from a compound of Potassium and other metals. Even if it is in an alloy Potassium is as reactive as I am talkative - and that's not good for you." 

The K-Bellator soldier stared blankly at her, obviously not catching on so the Doctor continued talking. Oscar silently moved towards the coffee machines and found a mug, filling it near to the brim with water and returning to the intruder, standing well away from both the Doctor and the alien. 

"Now, if I know my chemistry I can tell you that your species' planet is practically made up of Potassium and so you don't know the full extent of the effects that just a single cup of water could have. Including the gravitational and atmospheric differences into the mix this must be a whole new world to the one you're used to. 

"That is correct." It growled. 

"Well then, good job chosing the planet made up of over 70% water."

With those words Oscar threw the mug and it smashed to pieces on the warrior. For a few still seconds the K-Bellator's expression burned with resentment at Oscar then his shoulder began to melt and sizzle like wax from a blazing candle.

A wail of anguish ripped from it's throat while it broke down, the silver armour sliding away in clumps and bubbling. Flames dances around the pieces that fell and spread from his shoulder to his body like a contagious diseade. Crimson drops of what Oscar assumed was it's flesh fell to the ground and gathered in a single puddle, steaks of silver decorating it. 

It crumbled to the ground in horror and let one last howl of pain reach their ears before it was engulfed in a translucent blue light - an emergency teleport. 

The Doctor watched it go through the ordeal and turned to Oscar, an expression of pure rage and hurt placed upon her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so there MIGHT HAVE been a junk planet that wasn't a part of the Doctor Who universe. I didn't really realise until I read the description but I left it there anyway because I'm sleep deprived and why not ~_~


	4. Some Samaritan You Are

Shocked by this sudden turn of effects, she turned and hissed in a small fit of rage, "What did you do that for?" 

Slightly taken aback by this U-turn in her emotions, he answered her. "We're in a coffee shop, Jo. That thing was threatening us!"

"It was going to leave." 

"How could you be so sure? What if they come back in revenge for us? You were saying that the water was how we could defeat them." Countered Oscar in defense..

Regret hit her at the last sentence he said. That somehow she was the reason for the death. "It's was a bluff I wasn't going to- Did you have to- I mean, I'd already gotten my message across!"

"And what was that? That this planet was open for a war?" 

"That this planet was dangerous for them to enter specifically because that," she gestured towards the K-Bellator's remains, "Is exactly what could happen if they weren't careful! They were going to leave us alone but now that you've killed one of their Warriors, they will be searching for them!" 

"Then that's all the more reason to stop them before they report back." 

The Doctor's eyes widened in horror at such a suggestion. "Do you understand what you have done Oscar? Today you have committed a crime. You have killed an innocent person in cold blood so what do you have to say for yourself?" The Doctor's voice raised towards the end of her sentence of the very verge of shouting. Oscar went silent, chosing to no longer argue with the furious woman before their row escalated into something uncontrollable. 

"Some Samaritan you are." She muttered under her breath, eyes landing on the fallen K-Bellator Warrior's dissolved body now a puddle of crimson red and silver on the ground. Crouched down, she solemnly looked at it, the pond beginning to stiffen and turn to a shining solid. 

Briefly she was reminded of the last time someone had killed in fear, potentially causing a war when there wasn't need of one. The Silurians and the humans were on the verge of a revolutionary peace treaty on the condition that their warrior was brought back alive. But it went wrong. She had been killed and she knew full well that her death would spark a war, possibly even training for that very day. This warrior was on nothing more that a scout mission to collect metal and now he was dead. Nothing should've happened here.

But it did. And now a lot more death could happen. 

"I'm going to bury them." 

"You're going to touch it?" Disgust lined his words. 

Outraged, she whipped her head around, eyes blazing like her tenth incarnation's regeneration. "Are you really a Samaritan, Oscar? You don't seem like the type considering you just killed a person and don't exactly want to bury their remains in respect." 

He blankly returned her gaze and looked at the pool of red. The edges had begun to crumble in on itself like a crisp sheet of paper ever so slowly being scrunched up and it made him wince at the thought. Your body folding in on itself. But the warrior was dead. Did you feel pain when you were dead or was this excrutiatingly pain ordeal experienced completely? 

The Doctor turned her back to him and stood up, walking behind the coffee shop's counter in search of a container. Finding one filled with sugar, she dumped it all to the floor (something that could be interpreted as an object effected by the explosion by others) and made her way back wearing an expression of hurt and regret. Now it resembled a large scrunched piece of paper, silver and crimson contrasting hues giving it a surreal crystalline effect. 

Gingerly, with a feather-light grip, the Doctor held the remains in her hands and placed it into the container, screwing the lid on after. Guilt had already begun to line her conscience at the reminder of the event in her hands and the urge to bury them in a personal form of respect grew stronger and more intense from inside of her. 

Turning abruptly, cutting a stern eye at Oscar, she made her way through the rubble and dust into the warm sun outside. Still it was the height of morning and in reality only minutes had passed. For some reason it felt more fitting for the moon to replace the sun and the light blue sky to be covered in a dark blue cloth, shining white dots scattered across it. But light it shall be. 

The Doctor, taking a deep breath of the fresh open air saw the debris extend for much longer than she had originally thought. Ambulances littered the streets and paramedics tended to people in the distance. The injured and wounded. The children and their parents. The innocent and the unsuspecting. 

Her heart fell into an abyss of horror at the scene before her and for a second, one painful second, she questioned whether the murder of this Warrior was a worthy punishment for the many injuries they had caused today. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, hi. I realised that the Doctor never knew that Missy had betrayed Simm's Master instead of joining him so the Doctor was upset about that. She also doesn't know that the Master killed Missy either so I had something to think about all night.
> 
> Also Coffee is a wonderful thing that is so very underrated


End file.
